GIA Team

Nadia Elokdah
Vice President & Director of Programs
Nadia Elokdah is an urbanist and design strategist with more than a decade working at the intersection of public systems and cultural practice. She currently serves as Vice President & Director of Programs at GIA. Most recently she served as special projects manager with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs coordinating the City’s monuments commission. Prior, she served as coordinator in the development of the City’s first cultural plan, CreateNYC, in which she coordinated and led hundreds of engagements with a broad cross-section of the public, as well collaborating in the writing and production of the plan. She is devoted to civic engagement through culturally responsible, inclusive, and equitable design practice, exemplified in collaborations with the International Design Clinic, in.site collaborative, and Monuments Lab. Nadia is a trained architect and designer, researcher, professor, and published author, including Identity Crisis, a cultural exploration of urban planning through the hammam. She currently serves as steering committee member of the Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) Non-Black POC Solidarity! into Action Committee. Nadia holds a Master of Arts in Theories of Urban Practice from Parsons School of Design and a BArch in Architecture from Temple University.
Champ Knecht
Director of Operations & Finance
Champ Knecht has been working in non-profit finance for two decades, most recently as Deputy Director for Administration at The Drawing Center. Prior to that, he was at MoMA PS1, and in Pittsburgh PA at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Early in his career, Champ worked at New York Foundation for the Arts in its artist sponsorship program, and it was there that he realized arts management was to be his chosen career path. At The Drawing Center, he guided the institution through a major renovation and capital campaign. While he was Deputy Director, The Drawing Center became one of the first non-profits to successfully close out a major grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Champ is active on the Human Rights Campaign’s national Board of Governors, and is the Greater NY Steering Committee Co-Chair.
Jaime Sharp
Program Manager
Jaime Sharp is a Black queer nonprofit leader, social impact strategist, and arts and culture innovator residing on the stolen territory of the Three Fire Peoples, also known as Chicago. Her mission focuses on evolving organizational culture by challenging structural exclusion and dismantling systemic oppression by disrupting the pipeline to executive leadership through the instillment of knowledge and access to adequate resources and mutual aid. An active community organizer, they serve on the steering committee for the Chicago Chapter of Emerging Practitioners of Philanthropy and the inaugural steering committee for the LGBTQ+ Network at OPERA America. Jaime is also on the board of Chicago's Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, the African American Network at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Young Professionals at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board at the Chicago Philharmonic. She holds a BM and MM in vocal performance, and certificates in Social Impact Strategy (University of Pennslyvania) and Fundraising and Development (University of Kentucky and The Tessitura Network). Jaime is a Lego enthusiast, vintage shopper, and cat parent. jaime-sharp.com
Eddie Torres
President & CEO
Eddie Torres is a social change leader in the nonprofit, philanthropic and public sectors - currently serving as president and CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts. Torres served as deputy commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City, where we played a leadership role in the development of the city’s long-term sustainability plan, the city's first cultural plan and a study of and efforts to support the diversity of the city’s cultural organizations. Prior, Torres was a program officer with The Rockefeller Foundation, where we supported arts and culture, employment access, and resilience. Torres has also served in the dean’s office at Parsons School for Design, at The Ford Foundation and at the Bronx Council on the Arts. Torres serves on the board of directors of United Philanthropy Forum, as well as serving on its Public Policy Committee. Torres holds a Master of Arts in Art History from Hunter College and a Master of Science in Management from The New School.
Mar Undag
Membership Associate
Mar Undag is a movement artist who graduated from University of Utah with a BFA in Modern Dance and currently based in Brooklyn, NY. He cherishes his deep Filipino roots, feels a strong connection to food as art/passion/nutrition/comfort, and feels at home when at/near/in/on any large body of water. Along with teaching and performing, Mar feels a strong pull towards community and arts advocacy. Mar has served in various administrative positions inside of nonprofit and dance organizations.
 Zoë Williams
Membership Manager
Zoë Williams is a first-generation Jamaican American who holds a B.F.A in Acting and Performance Arts from the University at Albany. Zoë fell into Development five years ago at The Drawing Center at an assistant level, where she received a crash course into the arts world in NYC. With the help of strong mentorship, Zoë has had the opportunity to serve at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Supporting inclusion and equity in the arts & culture spectrum is her passion. Other passions include being a mother, traveling, cooking, dancing, and attending live theater.